Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The McCain campaign is looking at an Electoral College strategy heading into the final two weeks that has virtually no room for error and depends heavily on a dramatic comeback in Pennsylvania, which hasn't backed a Republican for president in 20 years.

While Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado are still officially listed as McCain target states, two top strategists and advisers tell CNN that the situation in those states looks increasingly bleak. Iowa and New Mexico always have been viewed as difficult races, but the similar assessment of Colorado reflects a dramatic shift for a campaign that had long counted on the state.

"Gone," was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.

This source said while the polls in Colorado remain close, he and most others in the operation were of the opinion that the Obama campaign and its allies have a far superior ground/turnout operation and "most of us have a hard time counting on Colorado."

Campaign manager Rick Davis is among the dissenters, believing the state remains within reach, several sources in and close to the McCain campaign say.

I looked at the 2004 presidential election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry, and all three states went to Bush. During the 2000 presidential election, Colorado went to Republican George W. Bush, while Iowa and New Mexico went to Democrat Al Gore. And now it appears that McCain campaign strategists are conceding all three states to Barack Obama. If this is true, then I seriously wonder if there is any electoral strategy that will allow John McCain to win this election, when he is having a difficult time defending such GOP red states that are turning blue-to-purple for Obama.